The Rules of Tennis
Every Wednesday the focus of this site returns to its foundational roots, the ITF Rules of Tennis as published in the USTA Friend at Court. We are currently in the midst of an exhaustive and sequential examination of the Rules of Wheelchair Tennis. Today we are exploring rules that require the player to power and operate the wheelchair without mechanical assistance. However, there are some pretty obvious exceptions to that rule.
The subsection of the Rules of Wheelchair tennis that restricts the mechanical properties of propelling the wheelchair reads as follows:
Subject to Rule e(v), players shall use only the wheels (including pushrims) to propel the wheelchair. No steering, braking or gearing or other device that may assist operation of the wheelchair, including energy storage systems, is permitted.
The Rules of Wheelchair Tennis, e(iii)
As we have covered the Rules of Wheelchair Tennis, American Quad Wheelchair player Nick Taylor has made recurring appearances in videos that illustrate the rules in practice. Regular readers of this site may instantly recognize that Nick Taylor uses a powered wheelchair when he competes. This forces us to jump ahead a little bit in the Rules of Wheelchair Tennis for an explanation.
Players who meet the requirements of Article 10 of the ITF Wheelchair Tennis Classification Rules may use a wheelchair powered by electric motor(s) (a “powered wheelchair”). Powered wheelchairs must not be able to exceed 15 km/h in any direction and shall be controlled by the player only.
The Rules of Wheelchair Tennis, e(v)
Article 10 of the ITF Wheelchair Classification Rules specifies that there is a panel that makes the determination of whether adaptive equipment is permitted in tennis. A powered wheelchair is allowed if a player has a severe permanent impairment that significantly compromises wheelchair propulsion. There is a detailed “Bench Testing” procedure and scoring guideline that is outlined in an appendix of the Wheelchair Classification Rules.
The limitation that caps the maximum speed of motorized wheelchairs approved for use in tennis promoted me to plunge down a rabbit trail to explore whether the speed limitation was reasonable or fair. The maximum speed allowed for a motorized wheelchair in tennis is 15 kilometers per hour. That converts to 4.17 meters per second. That random fit of math was required in order to compare that speed against a table that appeared in an article on the “Math and Sport” site at the University of Cambridge which summarized the top speeds of both able and Paralympic racers across all durations of races. The 4.17 m/s cap on wheelchair speed for tennis is about half of the world record times for wheelchair athletes. In an unexpected plot twist, wheelchair athletes are faster in endurance races than their able bodied counterparts. (!)
In 2016, data was published on the sprint speeds of tennis players who competed at the Australian Open that year. The data included the top sprint rate of each player as well as the average sprint speed. Novak Djokovic recorded the fastest sprint speed of 36.02km/h during that event. Additionally Djokovic’s average sprint speed was reported to be 14.89 km/h. That is really close to the 15 km/h limit imposed on motorized wheelchair tennis players.
At the end of all that, the 15 km/h limitation placed on motorized wheelchairs seems reasonable and fair. I will close today by offering up another clip of Nick Taylor. He starts offscreen, but winds up hitting a behind the back trick shot at the end of the point. It is a good clip for illustrating the relative speed and agility of both traditional and mechanized wheelchairs.
- United States Tennis Association (2021), Friend at Court: Handbook of Rules and Regulations, White Plains, NY
- Wheelchair Tennis Classification Rules, International Tennis Federation, Version 1.0, adopted with effect from 19 August 2019.
- Wheelchair Racing, John Barrow, University of Cambridge Math and Sport, viewed March 30, 2021.
- GIG: Djokovic the fastest tennis player in the world, Tennis Smash, viewed March 30, 2021.
